N.Y. Comptroller’s Report Blasts School Audit Firm

An accounting firm that audited the Roslyn, N.Y., school district performed “appallingly inadequate” work that didn’t meet professional standards and failed to uncover the apparent theft of millions of dollars in district funds, according to a report released this month.

Alan G. Hevesi, the New York state comptroller, said in announcing the Jan. 6 report that he had referred his findings to the Nassau County district attorney’s office, which is investigating the 3,300-student district.

Mr. Hevesi warned that the firm, Miller, Lilly & Pearce of East Setauket, N.Y., performs audits for 55 districts on Long Island and in the lower Hudson Valley, and that its partners have sold accounting software to 250 districts in the state. In addition to sending districts his findings, Mr. Hevesi forwarded them to the State Board for Public Accountancy for investigation and possible disciplinary action.

Officials in Roslyn said they would take steps to address the report’s recommendations. The auditing firm’s partners declined to comment.